Mage PvE guide
Things Mages want Non-Mages to know # Do not attack the sheep; do not put a DoT of any sort on the sheep. They can stay sheeped for up to 50 seconds from a high level mage. If you accidentally attacked the sheep, the mage will usually re-sheep it when his current spell finishes, so go ahead and let it attack you unless the mage sheeps something else. It would continue attacking you until it was dead anyways; this way if the mage re-sheeps the mob, the group will be able to maintain focus on fewer free mobs. # When pulling a group with multiple CCs, attack sapped mobs before sheeped ones. We can re-sheep in the middle of a battle. Rogues can't re-sap. # If you are in my group and I suddenly run past you, turn around and attack what's chasing me. I will stop to allow you to retake aggro. # If you have a choice of two targets in front of you, and one of them has their feet frozen in ice, hit the other one. Frozen targets will remain immobilized but still be able to melee or shoot for up to 8 secs unless they are attacked. As soon as is reasonable, try to take aggro on the mobs that had been frozen but are now free. Since Frost Nova deals damage, that means the mage that froze them has some hate built up with those mobs. With each of those mobs, you need to take aggro from the mage. # If you want me to AoE, don't pull and then run away, or the flamestrike or blizzard will miss. # The AoE that I deal will be against non elites. Keep aggro on the elites so that they don't come for me. # Ice Block (looks like a freeze trap that hunters have) is a frost talent that grants immunity during 10 sec with 5 min cooldown. It can be used to dispel debuffs, allow the tank to regain aggro, AND as a desperate last call for healing. # We are happy to give you food and water, but please don't just scream at us and expect us to just because you think you're more important. Sharing is caring, but manners won't kill you. Simply ask, and you'll get what you need. If we miss a request, whisper. # Don't be the warrior that tries to hold aggro with your fury and dual wielding crap. That may work at level 20, but when I've just combustion/blastwaved a massive group of enemies... you won't have a chance. Don't go battle stance and do a fool's charge. Go defensive stance and make use of shield block and revenge. # When out of mana (OOM), mages can't do their job properly. The down time might get tiresome but wait it out. It's even more tiresome for the mage. Yes, we can use our Evocation skill to replenish our mana quickly if needed, but it has an 8 minute cooldown. Let us drink between fights so we can save it for when we need it. We deal a lot of damage, and that damage requires mana. If we expect to encounter a long battle within 8 minutes, we need Evocation for that battle, or we need to wait out the cooldown in preparation. # AoE is a perfect recipe for breaking polymorph. If you have a sheep right beside you then have some common sense and don't use abilities like Thunder Clap which will break the sheep. Try pulling the mobs that you're already fighting in a safe direction and use your AoE there. # Don't expect mages to save you when you're low on health. We have some rooting abilities but we're neither healers nor a support class in general. The best we can do is try and pull the aggro off of you with lots of damage, which usually results in us dying instead. # If there is a mage NPC that I am fighting, I probably don't want you to take aggro from me unless my death is imminent. But in most cases, it won't be, because I have Fire Ward and Frost Ward at my disposal, both of which absorb damage from the respective schools. Mages have Mage Armor which does not in fact add armor rating as items do, but it does add resistance to all schools of magic, so it is quite likely that we have more resistance than you do. Also, some mages have Magic Absorption which further increases resistance to all schools of magic and (with this talent) if they fully resist a magic attack they gain up to 5% of their full mana bar. # Most mages have Counterspell so I can pull single casters really well. When it's used the mob caster will stop casting and come into melee, just be aware it causes a lot of aggro, so be prepared to save me! # Please don't buff us with spells that cause damage when we get hit, like Thorns, we are trying to keep aggro down! # We can't see how long you have left on the Arcane Intellect buff, remind us when it's running low on time. # In a raid instance when you need food/water, please send a tell to the mage asking for exactly what you need before you open trade. On a side note, please do open trade. We shouldn't have to keep track of the exact orders of 8 or 9 different people. Concerning Mage Services # Outside of an instance we are not obligated to make water or food for you. Don't get ornery because a mage refuses to make you food or water. # If you want a mage to help you out with conjured food or water, offer a tip. This will have nearly every mage eating out of your hand. # Mana stones (Jade, Agate, Citrine, Ruby) are soulbound and unique, we cant give them to you. # Portals and Teleports are completely different things. Just because a mage can teleport to a location, does not mean that they can portal you to that location. ## Teleports to: Ironforge, Stormwind, Orgrimmar, and Undercity are trainable at level 20. Teleports to: Thunder Bluff and Darnassus are trainable at level 30 and teleports to Shattrath City at 60. Portals to: Ironforge, Stormwind, Orgrimmar, and Undercity are trainable at level 40. Portals to: Darnassus and Thunder Bluff are trainable at level 50 and a portal to outland ( Shattrath City ) not until 65. By knowing this you can avoid the awkward situation that will occur from asking a level 40 mage for a portal to Darnassus or a 61 mage to get back to outland. ## Portals require a Rune of Portals, so outside of an instance the mage will probably charge you for at least the cost of this reagent (18s if the Mage is honored with the city or faction). # Politeness will get you everywhere; don't send a tell to the mage saying, "water kthx." Many will laugh and then /ignore you. # When you do ask for food or water, try to spell entire words. Typing "plz" instead of "please" could be the sole reason the mage turns down your request. As several mages famously put it, "If you say 'plz' because it's shorter than 'please', I'll say 'no' because it's shorter than 'yes'." # Confusing a mage with a warlock and consequently asking for a summon may end up in your being sent to the other side of the world. Though you will give the mage a good story to tell his guild... # If the price the mage asks for from you for any of his services is too much, do not get angry. Instead just ask another mage, who may provide the same service for cheaper. # Do not ask a Mage to give you water if you are too far away, e.g. you are in Ironforge and the Mage is in Stormwind. Mages are not waterboys. # Don't sell Tome of Conjure Water IX and Tome of Conjure Food VIII for excessive amounts of gold, when you expect us to give FREE food and water. The reason why 70 mages nowadays expect tips is because they just gave up 250, 500, even 1000+ gold just to reduce downtime. We have epic mounts to pay for too you know. # Not adhering to the above to above points may cause you to get my macro: "/say I'm sorry however the creation of food and water generates a line of text that is the same or similar to the previous in the same window within 30 seconds. This constitutes as spam and thus I'm unable to complete your request at this time." -- Simply put.. it's a privilege, not a requirement -- Especially considering point ten above! Why you should tip a Mage NOTE: This applies OUTSIDE of a group Some people wonder why should they pay Mages for something they can make. Do you tip an enchanter when they give you an enchant? Do you tip rogues when they open lock boxes for you? If you don't you should be on everyone's ignore list. We did have to pay to learn to make water. We are not "vending machines" and especially not free ones when WE have to pay 100+ gold to get a new and latest tome for a new rank in water. Level 70 Mages spend a good portion of their time in-game fending off people's request for water/food/ports. We also like to play the game too; so a tip for our services isn't too much to ask. Don't worry though, most Mages are not misers; they will not charge obscene amounts for water. A good tip is 50s-1g and usually will get 1-4 stacks of water/food. Ports should be the cost of the reagent, but remember the Mage is wasting his time just to port you there so a few extra silver doesn't hurt. If you still find it that you shouldn't pay for these services. You could just: #Walk and take a boat. #Buy your own food and water. Things Non-Mages want Mages to know # Say when you are out of mana and need to drink. Something like a quick "OOM" should work, and is best noted before combat ends. # Use Detect Magic on mobs that have special skills at certain times. For example, although it is commonly known that Herod is immune to all attacks when he's spinning, it may be good to use Detect Magic on him (and others like him) before the combat so that you can see what his buff really is. Araj the Summoner and Blazerunner are other examples of mobs you might want to use this on. # Call out sheep target before start of battle using "Detect Magic" on the mob. That will display a helix of light from the feet of the mob to above the head, that your party can learn to interpret as a sheep warning sign, if you so notify them. Making a macro is less useful, because you are relaying on your party to check the mob names in the 1.5 seconds casting time that the sheep spell requires. But if you fancy that, you can make a macro with "/p sheeping %T" and "/cast name" and drag the macro to your bar. The %T will insert the name of your targeted mob. To insert the spell line just shift+click the spell in your spell book. E.g. when used the macro will say 'Sheeping MobX'. It is also helpful to use Lucky Charms to mark the sheep. # Keep out of melee range, if possible, and run into the arms of the main tank or a deft off-tank if you are getting beat on by a mob. # Don't sheep the mob with a DoT on it. It's a waste of mana and time. # Know when to sheep and when to back up and AoE all of the mobs. Usually just concentrate fire on the one mob that the warrior is tanking. # Don't run around if you get aggro unless you freeze the mob. Chasing the mob makes it harder to get its aggro off you. # Be careful when getting into range to counterspell, more than one wipe has occurred because of overzealous mages pulling mobs they didn't see. # Pre-60: Don't AoE groups of elites.. ever! ( after lvl 60, the tanks can hold aggro a lot easier ) # If you are being bashed on and we are having trouble pulling aggro off you, STOP attacking the thing that is bashing you, attack something else instead. Just put up Mana Shield and stand there. DO NOT RUN. Take this extremely seriously please. You will not survive if you try to run out of the dungeon and it is much easier for a warrior to regain aggro if the mob is stationary. # Don't start casting your huge aggro fire spells as soon as the pull is made. You will pull aggro, and likely die. Let the tank build some aggro unless you plan on running around and kiting. You will also not get a Christmas card from the tank if you constantly make them chase mobs, as funny as you may find it at first. Above all do not open with pyro. If you do, apologise and don't repeat it, or expect to be kicked. Rememeber, its usually the tank you're making unhappy, and they're usually the group leader. And they're usually grumpy at the best of times. # If you're a Fire spec Mage and are drawing a lot of aggro in an instance, try switching to Frost spells. Frost spells still do some damage, but nowhere near as much, so your threat also won't be as high, and you therefore won't run around with mobs chasing you and need to be rescued by the tank. # If a Rogue is fighting a mob on the loose, do not sheep it and certainly do not attempt to continue to resheep it! The Rogue has made a decision to either tank the mob until the Warrior can grab it, or to kill the mob (this is often easier than you think with casters). Plus, there may be poisons and even DoTs from other group members who believe the mob is next to be killed. # Do not cast Amplify Magic on me if we are in an instance such as Scholomance with a lot of caster classes. The small healing bonus it provides will not make up for the extra magic damage taken. # If you're in a 5-man instance and draw aggro, be wary of where you use your Frost Nova. You might freeze a mob right next to your group's healer or fellow DPS class, who will promptly get pummeled unless he's got some mighty reflexes. General tips Rogue In case of sap-sheep pulls, learn the way he saps, and time your polymorph to happen as soon as possible after it (unless he has improved sap that is). If the rogue is used to using distract just before his sap, begin casting when you see the mobs turn. Always make sure to talk to the rogue about this first. They'll also be thankful for any and all food you supply to them. While they don't have mana, being able to vanish and eat is a boon to them. Warrior Let him build aggro first, don't make him use his taunt right at the beginning. The tank wants to make sure that mobs stay with him, and don't run past him to the back of the group where they'll then be able to kill you, or worse yet, the healer standing next to you. Time and select your spells carefully so you don't generate too much threat and pull aggro away from him, and he'll love you. If you do pull aggro, toss up Mana Shield and either stand there or go to the tank. Walking backwards away from the tank at 15% HP is a bad idea. If you decide to do this, don't brag about your 2,500dmg Frostbolt Crit. For Fire; This means waiting until the warrior has about 2-3 sunders without Blessing of Salvation, 1-2 with. For Frost; Same as above, though you may be able to get away with a hit on the first sunder even without Salvation. Just hope it doesn't crit. For Arcane; Preferably wait until the third sunder as AM (Arcane Missiles) has the highest aggro-gain out of all mage-ranged spells. Although he'll accept food from you, he probably won't use it until he's out solo questing after the instance, since ideally he'll have a healer while he's in it. Priest You're probably going to stand next to him (but in easy line-of-sight), in the last row. If he ever gets aggro from healing, you should frost nova the mobs going for him, to give the warrior some time in retaking aggro. If the warrior can't do anything about it, take aggro yourself and draw them away. He is more important than you. You can always be revived, but he probably can't. You should give water and an Arcane Intellect buff, but you should get a Power Word: Fortitude buff, the occasional Power Word: Shield, and some heals out of it. A Mage is an aggroed priests best friend. You should try to be in a position to step in and take their bullet. Mainly because you can do it better, (through various snares, slows and spell interrupts) and free them up for healing you when you get into trouble.)-Gargyboy Warlock He's going to ask you for water and/or food, and he's going to give you a healthstone for it. Remind him of part 2 should he forget. If you feel nice, give an Arcane Intellect buff as well. Coordinate with the warlock with your strength. If you're Fire or Ice, you'll want them to lay down Curse of Elements. If you're primarily doing Arcane, you'll want them to use Curse of Shadows (which will be their preferred curse as well). Mage Alternate spells with him. Casting 2 frost novas at the same time is useless. Having an enemy running between 2 mages when he can't make a choice is funny. If the other one use fire spells and you have improved scorch, use it. Druid You give water and an Arcane Intellect buff, but you should get a Mark of the Wild buff out of it. Do not get Thorns in instances; you do not want to create more threat. Balance druids can use their Tier 7 talent Moonkin Form. This aura will increase the critical hit chance of spells by 5% for the druid's party members within a 30-yard radius. When there is a druid (healing) and a mage in a group they should stay close to each other in the back. If it happens that the druid gets aggro the mob approaches the druid and then the mage will cast Frost Nova so the mobs get stuck to the ground giving the tank/offtank chance to retake aggro. If the druid is in tree form, he can't remove debuffs. If you're not worried about mana and want to be a kind soul, help with the decursing. The druid will love you for it - especially if you let him know you're going to help before he switches forms. Hunter Hunters are, by design, able to take care of themselves just fine. Hunters will appreciate an Arcane Intellect buff, and most will take an offer of food or water. Some hunter pets need to be fed bread to be happy; masters of these won't need to be asked about food. Hunters also use a lot of mana so offer them some drink! If you pull aggro, try and avoid running into a hunters 'deadzone' as in most situations this can hinder their ability to take the aggro off you. Paladin You're going to love working with paladins, and they love mages. A Paladin has the greatest potential to ensure you don't die. Paladins are the perfect partner for AoE grinding, and a properly played paladin is second only to a frost mage when they AoE grind alone. Beware though, at lower levels paladins can't keep up with your aggro, so behave yourself if there isn't a fully geared/spec'd tank around. Paladins are casters. They want food/water and normally dampen magic. Also expect to share non-cloth caster items. Of weapons, you share swords. Caster daggers and staffs are more plentiful and they can't use those. Aura-- They can give either Devotion Aura which will probably approach doubling your total armor (probably beyond this, if you use Mage Armor instead of Ice Armor). They also have concentration aura gives 35% chance for your spells to not be interrupted from damage (although you can still be interrupted by Shield Bash, etc.); with your burning soul talent, that winds up coming to 100%. (Only one can be active at a time, unless there is more than one paladin.) Blessing-- They may also grant you their second bubble (Blessing of Protection), it protects you from all physical damage and aggro, but you can still cast all the way. That's very handy when AoEing. Blessing of Salvation reduces your aggro, welcome to the life of the trigger-happy-yet-never-hit-mage, however if your tank holds aggro well enough, you might want to ask for Blessing of Kings (if they have it) if you prefer extra intellect; or Blessing of Wisdom, which gives you a steady flow of mana regen throughout combat. If you expect to be mana short, you can also ask for them to judge wisdom so that you can receive mana when your spells or wands hit. Tank-- They are in plate and whatever their spec can take hits better than you, can taunt and stun mobs off you. Shaman Shamans, like Hunters, are able to take care of themselves quite well. All Shamans can benefit from water and Arcane Intellect, yet in groups Shamans act independently of mages. Mages and Shamans can interrupt spell casting with Counterspell and Earth Shock, respectively. Earth Shock has a 20 yard range and 6 second cooldown, and also causes very little threat, so it's better to let the Shaman interrupt and save that counterspell for emergencies. A Shaman can also benefit from your Detect Magic spell since they can purge buffs from your enemies. If your group consists of more spell-based casters than nonmagical folk, you may be in luck. Ask your Shaman to lay down a Wrath of Air totem (and a Totem of Wrath if their spec is deep Elemental). You'll get +101 spell damage (and a 3% increased chance to both hit and crit). If your group has 3 or more physical damage dealers, your group is probably better served with a Windfury or agility buff. If a Shaman is acting as a secondary damage dealer in a well-balanced group, a shaman might be able to overcome a mage's aggro if said mage leaves him in melee range after a Frost Nova or when a frost mage uses Ice Block. If your Shaman is Restoration spec, then you're lucky enough to have Mana Tide Totem working in conjunction with Mage Armor, though the cooldown on the totem is a lengthy 5 minutes. If the Shaman you are grouping with is not Resto, you can still ask for Mana Spring Totem, which will grant you a cool 30 mana per 5 seconds. Category:Mages Category:Mages